Doorly

It’s been just a few years since Pete Tong touted Doorly as a future star, but not even the Radio 1 icon could have predicted just how rapid his ascent would be. As of 2016, he can already add two Essential Mixes, multiple Beatport and Traxsource No.1s, production for Usher and Nicki Minaj, sharing the stage with The Prodigy, acclaimed releases on Cajual, Dirtybird and Hot Creations and studio collaborations with Cajmere and Grandmaster Flash to his ever-growing list of achievements. And he’s only just getting started.

Doorly cut his teeth in his native Huddersfield, running his own party and booking the likes Armand Van Helden, Fatboy Slim, Erol Alkan, Annie Mac, 2 Many DJs and eventually Pete Tong, who was so impressed by his ability behind the decks that he offered him a Live Radio 1 Essential Mix direct from the club. Following this seal of approval, Doorly’s gig schedule took on a life of its own, with DJing in Time Square New York and touring regularly alongside Fatboy Slim just some of the highlights.

At the same time as touring, Doorly was working hard honing his craft in the studio, establishing himself as a versatile, in-demand producer. Remix work for an enviable list of A-list acts followed, with imaginative reworkings of tracks from Kanye West, The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal and Basement Jaxx setting Doorly on a different creative level to many of his peers.

In 2012 Doorly relocated to Los Angeles, California. From this base he launched a diverse array of his own parties, ranging from sunshine house and disco gatherings on the rooftops of Austin at SXSW & Miami with Skream and Jackmaster, to 2000 capacity ‘secret’ warehouse parties in Downtown LA. From humble beginnings, these Doorly & Friends Events have gone on to establish residencies at Ministry of Sound (London), AIR (Amsterdam), Sound (Los Angeles) and Canal Mills (Leeds), Pikes Hotel & Sankeys (Ibiza), Sisyphos (Berlin) plus regular parties in Miami, San Francisco, Asia and across the world including a mansion party at Coachella at which Disclosure played after their main festival appearance.

In 2014 he achieved what he had been threatening to for some time, topping the Beatport overall chart with his Shadow Child collaboration ‘Piano Weapon’. In that same year, Doorly & Cajmere’s ‘The Way’ sat at No.1 overall on Traxsource and in the top 10 of the Beatport house chart for over a month, with his releases being hammered by the likes Maceo Plex, Jamie Jones, Agoria, Annie Mac to name a few.

2015 alone saw Doorly releases on Cajual, Dirtybird, Moon Harbour, Toolroom and Hot Creations; an impressive list of labels that demonstrate the towering standards he sets himself, as well as the high regard his production are held in by many of the industry’s tastemakers.

Above all else however, Doorly is first and foremost a DJ, with his dedication to and passion for the craft apparent to everyone who sees him perform. Sets are played out across four CDJs, plus samplers and FX units, and he is a firm believer that a DJ set should be a live, unique experience. To that end, Doorly continues to work alongside Pioneer as one of its Pro-DJ Ambassadors and is directly involved with testing, design and training with Pioneer DJ equipment together with fellow craftsmen James Zabiela, Zane Lowe, Eats Everything and Laidback Luke.

You need only look at Doorly’s gig schedule for the coming year to appreciate just how in-demand a DJ he is, with the next few months alone seeing appearances at SXSW, Sankeys Manchester, Lost Village Festival, Boardmasters Festival Newquay and Creamfields UK. In Ibiza, Doorly maintains as unyielding a presence as ever, with his 11th season living on the island including gigs at Pacha, Pikes Hotel, Ibiza Rocks and Space – for what will be the legendary venue’s final season – while Doorly & Friend goes from strength to strength with takeover shows at Snowbombing Festival, Rainbow Complex Birmingham, Beatherder and various other European Festivals and Ministry of Sound London.

On the production front, 2016 has already started in impressive fashion. In February Doorly dropped his hugely anticipated remix of Carl Craig & Green Velvet’s ‘So What’, with that same month seeing the release of ‘Want Silver’, a collaboration with ZDS on David Squillace’s This & That imprint. Add to that a remixes of Claptone ‘Anything’ and House of Virus & Jimi Polo ‘Better Days’ (March) and the upcoming Cajual Miami compilation mixed by Cajmere & Doorly, plus further releases alongside Switch, Idris Elba, DJ Pierre & Todd Terry and Gene Farris, and 2016 is looking like another full-throttle year for Doorly.